Less is more.

After spending the past couple weeks in Lancaster County, PA, I am beginning the trip home today. First, I head north to Benton to return the car my mother graciously lent me. Saturday, I fly back Spokane.

Besides the actual purchase of the property, my most visible accomplishment here was the removal of three walls and assorted trash from the building. That makes the building feel different. A couple people who saw the building as we bought it and then saw it again recently have exclaimed things like, “It looks different!” “It feels much bigger!” And my favorite, “This is going to be a wonderful house!”

This is a metaphor of much of our lives. When we allow clutter into our physical, emotional, spiritual, and other space our potential becomes hidden. Excess baggage hinders us from achieving all that we could.

Consider this. If the sellers had emptied this church building of the trash before they listed it, a relatively simple task, more potential buyers might have seen what the building could become. More people might have made offers. It might have sold faster and at a higher price.

Of course, I’m glad they didn’t! Instead, even though dozens of people looked at the property almost no one saw potential in the building. Most interested buyers thought the potential was in the land and the building was a liability. So, they added the cost of demolition and removal to the price of the property which made it too expensive.

Somehow, God gave Nancy and me eyes to see through the ruble to the building’s potential. Removing the unnecessary stuff is making the building seem more valuable.

I believe that is true of our lives. As we eliminate no longer used items, forgive people who hurt us, confess our sins, and diet and exercise away excess weight we become more attractive people whose value will appear to increase in other people’s eyes.

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One comment on “Less is more.”

Thanks Greg, I thank God he sees through my “clutter” and sees my potential and worth. I think of my brothers tag line in his emails “if you see people as losers you will look at them with contempt, If you see them as lost you will look at them with compassion”.